For those of us who may update, Login to https://www.native-instruments.com/en/catalog/my-komplete-offers/ to see what you qualify for.

For those who are new, this is a yearly 50% off sale

Thanks Dan! I can upgrade Komplete for $99 and get 3 things I've really wanted...Electric Mint, Prime Bass and Kontakt 7 plus a bunch of other things I don't even know what to do with (yet!) BTW, I think I read that Electric Mint allows exporting MIDI patterns (something I wanted to do with Picked Acoustic.)

Ya, time for me to update also.

By the way, Electric Mint, Drag and Drop Midi - not exactly how I thought it would be done, but does provide new featured workflow.

Please, Do tell...
btw, I upgraded last night... Huge download. I have many ???s

Check out the video at 1:59 which walks throught the Midi Drag & Drop feature. This actually provides pre-arranged chord progressions versus having to input them from the DAW or Keyboard. This feature is new to the Session Guitarist Series.




Not surprizing. Kontakt is huge. Between YouTube, the NI website and VI-Control... All of your questions can be answered.

The folks at https://vi-control.net/community/threads/native-instruments-summer-of-sound.139967/ are all over this.

Dan

Thanks again young Dan.

Hey Dan, so now I have every Session Guitarist except SESSION GUITARIST – ELECTRIC VINTAGE. Do I "need" that one? It is on sale for 50% off ($49.50)!

JJJ,

Only you can answer that question.

Here is the series as best I recall:
1. Strummed Acoustic (Both I and II)
2. Sunburst (Both Regular and Deluxe)
3. Picked Acoustic
4. Electric Vintage
5. Picked Nylon
6. Electric Mint

We had a chat about this a couple years back here in the forum when Picked Nylon came out. The consensus of BIAB users on this product at the time was very favorable. And that it works well with BIAB.

https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=669113&page=1

If it helps, first, I can tell you the price at $49.50 is right.

Otherwise, my decision process for any new VI is "...will I be able to use this in a compositon?" Having said that I have to admit, I have bought some packages simply because they are so cool and fun to play with. But I am happy to say I have used every one of my Session Guitars in my music. But I don't have them all.

I do remember the Electric Vintage and I passed on it at the time (Feb 2021). It is a Telecaster known for its twang country sound. I have owned over a dozen guitars and never bought or played a Tele. So maybe that explains why I passed on it?

I am currently sitting on the fence with the Mint. My current upgrade really only needs Kontakt 7 at $49.50. But I am a Strat guy so the Mint looks cool. But i have not been making much guitar music these days. ?? I will make the decision very soon.

Dan

It is done. Boy... that decision was a lot of work.

and now you have The Mint (and a bunch of other "WYH do I do with this?" stuff!)

Thanks for that careful, considered advice. Pretty sure I'll buy it; I currently have a set with a missing piece! Maybe I'll wait a couple more days so I can feel like I didn't just splurge on everything in May.

JJJ, it probably won't hit the card until June if you do it after midnight tonight <grin>

My upgrade price is apparently $199; more than I wanted to spend on surprise notice (just paid a garage door guy a couple hundred tonight ..), and as usual the NI site is not really clear on what I would get for that. If I knew I got the new Kontakt Library (and *something else) I'd likely be thinking about it at work tomorrow.

I had mentioned it was a tough decision. But the Kontakt web page does provide much of the info needed. You need to log in. They will know who you are and what you already have. They will tell you exactly what packages you will get for the $199. You just have to push buttons. They will throw in way more than any one person will need or want. Keep in mind you don't have to download everything. The programs will be there for you at anytime in the future. If you see more than 3 or 4 gems you may decide the price is a bargin.

Good luck.
Dan

They do a poor job of showing what you'll get that is new vs. what you already have (probably intentionally!) So, what I did was go here, https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/bundles/komplete-14-standard/compare/ and look down the text list of included items under Standard (I had KOMPLETE 13 Standard). I loaded Native Access and installed everything I own then made myself a text file of all the items listed on the webpage that I did not already have in Native Access. Then, I could quickly see that I was going to get 30+ new items including KONTAKT 7 and 3 Session instruments I've been wanting. My upgrade price was only $99.50+tax so it ended up being a no-brainer for me (very fortunate since lately I'm kind of a no-brain sort of fella!)

There is a link called "Whats New for Me?" which itemizes what is available in V14 Standard vrs what was in V13 Standard. I thought that was pretty well laid out showing me what I would get for the $99.50. That would get me Kontakt 7, Mint, Prime Bass plus a lots of additions stuff I have no intention of downloading at this time.

For $299 I could have updated from Standard 13 to Ultimate 14 - then I would have gotten a lot of stuff I would have downloaded: Nylon, Vintage, Alica Keys, Colors, Horns Pro 1 and 2, Damage, Action strikes 1 and 2, along with the whole orchestral esstential series of classical instruments. Would certainly be worth the money, but I could not say all would end up in my recordings since I have a lot of equivalent libraries.

By the way, I have been working with Mint and have an arrangement in the works.

Dan

Yeah, I tried that BUT it included stuff I already owned. And yes, I was logged in at the time!

BTW, I now own the complete set of Session Guitarist instruments!

I do have the free player, and the instruments I have got for free are quite large in GB terms.

Anyone have any idea how large is the whole shebang of the full version?

Thanks.

https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/bundles/komplete-14-standard/compare/

Thanks Dan.

Hello Dan,

when you say you have an arrangement in the works, are you using Band in a Box exclusively to "drive" the sounds, and/or another DAW, and/or NI's hardware?

I am willing to go overboard and get the whole Collector's Edition at $899 (50%) off, but am wondering if I can then simply use the sounds within BinABox (part of my workflow also includes the DAW, Mixcraft).

I am also considering getting the hardware bundle that they are offering, but rarely compose on a music keyboard.

Hello Tom,
Thanks for asking. My current project is EZKeys2,EZBass,EXDrum3, Session Guitars Mint and me on my Strat. So no BIAB in this arrangement (so far). But BIAB is not far from all my work since even if it is not present, it is likely that it provided some spark of inspiration along the way.

I can tell you that Kontakt VI's works in BIAB. So yes, you will likely be able to use the "sounds" in BIAB. However, IMO, BIAB lacks the features to do final arranging, mixing and mastering needed for final production. So while I may start in BIAB, I always end up in Reaper.

I have worked hard over the past years to increase my composing on a keyboard. I can tell you the NI hardware keyboards can be a great investment in your long term music plans. So even if you are not a pianoist, playing chords/pads or driving a synth or kontakt instrument engine has permitted more of me in my music.

And finally, although you did not ask... while I have no problem recommending the Collectors Edition, I can't help but think that is a crazy amount of new-software to buy at one time. The way NI sells these packages makes it no more costly to buy-up over time instead of all at once. So unless you have your eyes on something specific, may be best to slow down a bit. The Stand and Ultimate Editions are a life time of sounds. But if you have more money then you know what to do with it.... have fun.

Dan

Hello Dan,

Thank you for the very interesting response.

When I write a song, I usually do so on my guitar, but will occasionally compose on my Yamaha keyboard to work out sax and piano solos, that sort of thing. I'll then plug in a chord progression in BandInABox and choose a style, bring in the instruments, and do 80% of the arrangements in there.

The 2023 version of BinB is amazing in its ability to edit and regenerate audio. I may also add some sparse effects, but generally I then import the whole thing into Mixcraft 9 Pro, a very handy little DAW. From there I add my vocals and guitar(s), additional effects, production and mix.

I am contemplating where to insert the Native Instruments part in my workflow. My initial thought was to replace some of the string sounds in particular that Band In a Box offers, even some of the MIDI, with the NI sounds once I bring it into my DAW. Of course, the NI sounds would offer a lot more in terms of variety, not just of straings.

While the current sale offers a discount on the NI software and hardware each separately, there is an additional compounded discount when you get both, as the hardware comes with a lesser tier of software, and so adding the Collector's Edition in my case is now considered an upgarde rather than a brand new full software purchase.

I do not have money to burn, but with the discounts, I am lucky to be in a position to afford it, and I don't think any piecemeal pricing down the road will beat it. Finally, sometimes I just like to derive inspiration by experimenting with sounds, so it would be nice to have the whole NI palette without restrictions.

Thank you again for your input. I would love to hear some of your tunes when they are ready.

Upgraded to 14 Ultimate. Enough instruments and presets to last for the rest of my life.

On top of that, I subscribed to Studio One Sphere. Studio One has turned into my fav DAW.

Congratulations mate, it is a gift which never stops giving.

Thanks, Dan. Indeed it is. You can spend a lot of time exploring some awe-inspiring sounds.

Only one problem neither Band in the Box nor Realband are compatible with Kontakt 7 .dll given that it is VST3. So, what really new cannot be used on my favorite DAW, just the stuff I had before investing in Complete Collectors Editions.

This problem no longer exists because in Komplete 14 there is Komplete, which handles VST3 transparently.

I think you are correct! Kontakt 7 will not load in BIAB. I didn't even notice since I have Kontakt 6 on my machine which still loads. I am not aware of any new Komplete stuff which actually needs Kontakt 7 since I see my new stuff in Kontakt 6.

But this whole VST3 thing in BIAB needs to be addressed.